Mail-bag catcher.



, A. E. ROARK.

MAIL BAG CATCHER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 24, 19M.

Patented May 28,1918.

A. E. ROARK. MAIL BAG CATCI-IER. APPLICATION FILED NOV-. 24. I914. 1,267,697. Patented May 28,1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

I II I'll-III awue/wto z,

ALBERT E. ROARK, 0F SCOTT, KANSAS.

MAIL-BAG CATCHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 28, 1918.

Application filed November 24, 1914. Serial No. 873,789.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT E. RoAnK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Scott, in the county of Scott and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag Catchers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to mail bag catching and delivering apparatus, and has particular reference to a means for delivering mail bags from a swiftly moving railway train. greatest damage to mail bags results from their careless delivery from a train, these mail bags at the present time being thrown from the. train when passing the station at which it is desired to drop the bag. This often results in tearing and mutilating the bag and often times the contents of the bag. Therefore, while my invention may be applied to a use for collecting mail bags from a station to the train, it has been found that a more useful adaptation has been found to reside in the process of delivering mail from a train to a station. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that my invention may be used in conjunction with the usual form of mail catching arm carried by all railway mail trains at the present time, but that my invention has no bearing upon the present form of mail catching arm.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a means for receiving the mail bag from a train in such a manner as to effectually prohibit any mutilation of the bag during the progress of delivery.

Another object of my invention is to provide a simple and effective meansfor automatically releasing the bag from a support disposed upon the railway car at such a time that the same will be deposited in a receptacle for the same adjacent the railway track.

With the above and other objects in view my invention resides preferably in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts as hereinafter set forth in the specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which' Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invention showing its position adjacent a railway track and a portion of a railway car being shown to illustrate the application of my invention thereto.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of my improved receiver for the mail bags It is a well known fact that the Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the same.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the mail bag support carried by'the railway car, and

Fig. 5 shows two views of a means for facilitating connection of the mail bag to the holder.

Similar reference characters indicate similar parts throughout the various views of the drawings.

Referring more particularly to the drawings in which the preferred embodiment of my invention is illustrated, I have shown in Fig. 1 a railway car indicated generally by the numeral 1, the said railway car being mounted upon the usual wheels 2 and movable upon a track 3. The usual door a is provided in a side of the car adjacent which is mounted my improved mail bag holder which shall be described in detail hereinafter. I

The said mail bag holder comprises preferably a laterally extending arm 5 mounted upon the side of the railway car 1 and preferably forward of the door 4 of the railway car. A mail bag clamp is carried by the outermost end of the said arm 5, and comprises preferably a hook member 6 rigidly secured at 7 to the outer end of the said arm 5, the said hook member 6 having an arcuate portion 8 which forms one jaw of the aforementioned mail bag retainer. A lateral ex tension 9 is provided on the said hook member 6, and a movable jaw 10 having ears 11 formed on one end thereof is pivoted at 12 on the said lateral extension 9. As clearly shown in Fig. 4 the ears 11 carried on the jaw 10 embrace the lateral extension 9, and thereby prevent sidewise lost motion of the said jaw 10. A shoulder 13 is provided on the jaw 10 adjacent its pivot point and is adapted to contact with the under surface of the lateral extension 9 to limit the movement inward of the movable jaw 10. A spring element 14 secured at 15 to the hook member 6 bears on the shoulder 13 so as to always tend to force the movable jaw 10 away from the stationary jaw 8. The mail bag is indicated at 16 in Fig. 1, and is provided at its upper end with a flexible cord or the like 17 on the free end of which is carried a block 18, the said block 18 being narrowed or scalloped upon its opposite faces as indi cated at 19 to facilitate its engagement, as shown to advantage in Fig. 1, with the arcuate jaws 8 and 10 of the mail ba holder. It will be seen in Fig. 1 that the said block 18 is engageable between theclamping jaws S and 10 and is retained therein until the movable jaw 10 is actuated which will release the block. In order to lock the movable jaw 10 in engagement with the block 18,, l have provided a catch element releasable at times, the said catch element comprising preferably a shaft rotatably mounted in brackets 21 and 22 and disposed in parallelism to the arm 5, the said brackets 21 and 22 being formed upon the arm 5 and depending at substantially right angles therefrom. The shaft 20 is provided on one of its ends with a pawl 23, the free end of said pawl being engageable with a re cess formed in the movable jaw 10. For the purpose of strengthening said pawl 23, the bracket 22is bifurcated as shown at 25 to provide spaced ears 26, and the said pawl 23 is narrowed as shown as :27 for extension between the said spaced ears 26, itbeing, of course, understood that the narrowed portion 27 ofthe p'ayl 23 is rigidly carried upon the rotatably mounted shaft- 20. In order toactuate the pawl to release the jaw 10 a lever arm 28 is mounted rigidly at 29 on the said shaft 20, so that movement of the arm 28 will cause the shaft 320 to rotate, thereby lifting the pawl 23 out of engagement with the recess 24: and allowing the jaw 10 to swing into open position.

Referring now to the mail bag receiving member I provide a receptacle 30, the said receptacle 30 having the upper end thereof open, and the marginal edges flared as shown at 31 to providean opening relatively large in area and substantially elliptical in con tour, this construction facilitating deposition of the mail bag in the receptacle 30. The said receptacle 30 is mounted on supports 32 which are embedded in the ground adjacent the railway track 3.

The receptacle 30 is provided with a shock- 1 absorbing means which preferably comprises a baffle plate 33, the said baffle plate having loops 34; carried uponthe upper marginal edge thereof, the said loops 84 being in engagement with a shaft 35, the ends of said shaft being mounted in bearings 36 carried by a pair of vertical supports 37- mounted upon the side walls of the receptacle 80, and formed integral therewith if so desired. The bearings 36 are of peculiar formation, as is shown to advantage in Fig. 1, the bearing surface for the ends ofthe shaft being somewhat extended so that an elongated opening 38 is provided in each bearing in which the ends of the shaft are disposed. The bearings 36ers secured on the upper ends of the supports 3? in any desired manner, rivets 39 being shown in the drawings. The said balile plate is normally in a vertical position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2-, the said baiile plate being retained in this position by means of retaining elements comprising coiled springs 40 and il, there being preferably four of these springs l0 and s1, two being placed on each side of the baffle plate 33, so as to retain the same in a normal position. The outer ends of the said springs are secured to brackets 42, the said brackets being supported in any preferred manner on the vertical supports 37. Stop members is are provided adjacent the lower end of the battle plate 33 and in the path of its swing, so as to limit the movement of the same. An opening is provided adjacent the base of the receptacle 30 and a door 43 is positioned over said opening, so as to allow access to the receptacle 30, whereby to remove the contents thereof. As shown to advantage in Fi 1, the. receptacle is placed in such a position relative to the railway track 3, or the path of travel of the railway car that the baffle plate 33 will be disposed at substantially right angles to the path of travel of the railway car. It will thus be seen that when an object strikes the ballie plate 83, the same will be deflected against the tension of the springs 40 and ll, from a vertical position suflicient to stop the progress of the object and to deflect the same into the receptacle 30. Immediately after the object has dropped into the receptacle 30, the baffle 35 plate 33 will return, assisted by the coil springs to and ll to its normal vertical posit-ion. As shown to advantage in Fig. 3, the bottom of the receptacle 30 is preferably formed of some cushioning or soft 180 material, and I have therefore provided wire mesh indicated at 4E5. As shown to ad vantage in Figs. 2 and 3 I have provided a pair of lateral extensions 46 for a purpose which will be hereinafter set forth in de 105 tail.

From the above description taken in con nection with the accompanying drawings, it is thought that a clear and comprehensive understanding of the construction, op- 11G oration, and advantages of my invention may be had, and it will be seen that I have provided a device which is simple in construction, and one which is positive in oporation.

llhen it is desired to'utilize my invention, the mail bag is suspended fron'i the holder described hereinbefore by the block 18 between the jaws S and 10. and clamping the same therein. The catch 23 is engaged 120 with the recess 2% as shown in Fig. hand the device is now ready for operation. From the relative positions of the various elements shown in Fig, 1, it will be readily appreciated that the direction of travel will 125 be as indicated by the arrow, and that when the lever arm :28 carried upon the shaft20 is tripped by contact with the lateral extensions et6 mounted on the vertical standards 37, the catch s 23 will be actuated, re- 159 leasing the mail bag. The momentum of the railway car will be, of course, imparted to the mail bag, and the impact of the same striking the bafile plate 33 will deflect the same as hereinbefore set forth, the said baffle plate 33 directing the mail bag 16 downwardly into the receptacle 30 and then returning to its normal vertical position as hereinbefore set forth. It will be readily noted that the baffle plate 33 does not immediately swing on its pivot when struck by the mail bag, but travels for a slight distance along the elongated opening 38 of the bearing 36 until the respective ends of the shaft 35 engage the respective ends of the elongated opening 38. This movement will to a great extent absorb the impact of the mail bag, and then the baffle plate 33 will commence to swing upon the shaft 35 through the arc of a circle described around the said shaft.

The flared portions 31 of the receptacle 30 are disposed toward the direction in which the railway car may be advancing, so that when the bag strikes the bafile plate 33, the flared portions will facilitate its reception in the receptacle 30. It will be seen the arm 28 is so positioned that a car may travel in either direction, an extension 46 being provided in each instance so as to engage the arm 28 and release the bag.

It is thought that the advantages of my invention will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art, and while I have shown and described my invention as possessing a peculiar form and construction, it is desired that it be understood that I may make such changes in the detail structure thereof which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. A mail bag catcher for use in conjunction with a car mounted to travel upon a track comprising a receiver disposed adjacent the' railway track, a shock absorbing member carried by the receiver comprising a baffle plate mounted to have free pivotal and sliding movement mounted thereon, and cushioning elements associated with said baf fie plate, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A mail bag catcher for use in conjunction with a car traveling upon a rail- Way track, comprising a mail bag receiver disposed adjacent said railway track, a bailie plate pivotally and slidably mounted above said receptacle having its axis at substan tially right angles to the direction of travel of the vehicle, resilient elements disposed upon each side of the said bafile plate, where. by to absorb shock resulting from the impact of a mail bag engaging the said baffle plate,

and means for limiting the movement of said baflie plate.

3. A mail bag catcher adapted for use in conjunction with a car traveling upon a railway track, comprising a mail bag retainer mounted on the car, a receiver disposed adjacent said railway track, said receiver having upwardly extending standards thereon, a baffle plate mounted on the upper ends of said standards to have free swinging and sliding movement, cushion springs mounted on opposite sides of the bafiie plate and connected in tension with the standards, and lateral extensions on said standards, said lateral extensions being engageable with said mail bag retainer, whereby to release the SELIIIIG and deposit the bag within the receptac e.

4. A mail bag catcher adapted for use with a car traveling upon a railway track,

comprising a receiver disposed adjacent and at one side of the track, upright standards mounted at the sides of the receiver, bearing members having elongated openings therein mounted on the upright standards, shock absorbing means in the form of a baffle plate, a shaft connected with said baflle plate and mounted in the elongated openings of the hearin s to thus support the baflie plate to have ree swinging and sliding movement within the bearings, and springs connected with the bafiie plate and with portions of the supporting structure to resiliently oppose both swinging and sliding movement.

5. A mail bag catcher adapted for use with a car traveling upon a railway track, comprising a receiver disposed adjacent and at one side of the track, upright standards mounted at the sides of the receiver, bearing members having elongated openings therein mounted on the upright standards, shock absorbing means in the form of a baffle plate,

a shaft connected with said bafiie plate and ALBERT E. ROAR-K.

Witnesses:

STEWART I. Ross, C. E. NORMAN.

Copies at this patent may be obtained tor five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner 92 l'atonts,

Washington, D. G. 

